West Indies

West Indies

The West Indies is a long string of islands that arc out from Florida to Venezuala, separating the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea. Often misunderstood, often falsely portrayed, the West Indies is a rich, diverse and huge region. Much of it still remains untamed and wild, and much of the West Indies is under threat from cruise ship and megadevelopment tourism. Follow me as I explore the islands of the West Indies. You can use my West Indies Map as a reference to the region.

I spent my mornings in the Bahamian dry forest areas north of Treasure Cay, and was surprised by the richness of the landscape and wildlife there. I spent several mornings photographing and sketching this area, and have included both in the posts below.

Just looking under our feet, we see bounding schools of minnows. Deeper, sharks and fish of every ilk breed their young here. It is the safest place in the sea. The mangrove gathers nutrients and the tide flushes all that into the seas. The mangroves feed the sea grass and form the breeding ground for the coral reef. Life in the West indies then, begins here...

It’s a small but well-stocked resort grocery which hasn’t changed a lick since I first came here at the age of five. Even the grocery items don’t change much – Ritz Crackers, little cellophane wrapped pork cuts with green jelly mints, Goombay Punch, Conchy Joe’s Hot Sauce, and Bay Rum in plastic bottles.

I am on a boat, tied to a dock in a bay on the tiny island of Great Guana Cay in the Northern Bahamas. Troy Albury is untying lines and points out a Caribbean reef squid taking shelter under the dock...

The dolphins stayed, a man was hired to feed them. Beaten by the sun, bruised, first spit on by small kids with bags of Cheetos that would end up in the sea and float to Cuba, then submitted to quarantined loneliness in the baking sun of shallow, dredge-silt water. Some lived, and were eventually shipped off to Nassau.

The castaway does not intend his fate, I wrote in my journal, and in most cases, his predicament ends in death. For the settler, however, there is a choice, and the choice necessitates a variety of skills and plans set up beforehand to cope with and then prosper in the islands. What skill-set is required to prosper in a place like this, with poor soil and blistering sun?

Most rays are bottom dwellers. The spotted eagle ray, one of the largest in the family, is more pelagic, and often swims in packs of two or more. The pacific leopard ray species is known to swim in packs of 30 or more...

But the longer we drive, the quicker my desire to look for a hispaniolan parrot gives way to pure, mad concentration. The Dominicans are driving on their mopeds and tiny little cars as if this is the last day of their lives.

I remembered the old days - the eight foot green moray - and the day Eddie and Cathy and I plunged off the Sea Queen near Chub Rock and visited the old sunken steamer to snap some shots for a dive shop promotion.